My Way | Colby Porter Jr

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Martinsburg squeaks past Jefferson
By James Davis


Colby Porter Jr. scores the game's only TD in a 7-0 win over Jefferson

In what had been a battle of defense and field position the score between Martinsburg and undefeated Jefferson remained tied at 0-0 when Jefferson punted back to Martinsburg with five minutes left to play. After a bobbled catch on the punt return the ball was spotted at the Martinsburg 11 yard line.

Senior QB Colby Porter Jr trotted out and went to work. An option keep for a gain of six followed by a handoff to Glick for five yards and a first down at the 22. A quick pass to Sarria on a slant for eight then a bootleg run for 12 put Martinsburg at their 42 with another first down. Jefferson called a timeout.

"I kind of smiled a bit when they called that timeout because I knew we were wearing out their defense. It was late and it was already one of the longer drives. I saw them sub a couple guys in the secondary and thought there might be something there."

There was. On the next play tight end Michael Weisbecker was split out wide and matched up with one of the subs. Weisbecker easily beat the defender on a post route and Porter Jr. delivered a perfect pass, Weisbecker was tripped up before scoring but the ball was spotted at the 2 yard line. Glick was stuffed on a dive and lost a yard. Porter Jr. took the snap and put the ball out for Howell before pulling it back at the last second and sprinting into the endzone. Harvey nailed the point after and the Bulldogs defense held on for the win.

Porter Jr. finished the game 8 for 11 passing for 117 yards and ran for 123 and the score.

Martinsburg improves to 6-3 while Jefferson drops to 8-1.

The win sets up a showdown between Martinsburg and Charles Town, Porter Jr's former team, next week with a playoff spot on the line.

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Season Stats: 31/44 581Yds 8TD 3Int, 56 Rush 587 Rush Yds 4TD

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Martinsburg dominates Charles Town as Porter Jr. makes a statement
By James Davis


Colby Porter Jr. delivers one of three TD passes in a 28-0 win against Charles Town

Trash talk, a star player with ties to the other team, a playoff spot on the line and over 50 years of history between the schools made the 2014 version of Martinsburg vs Charles Town one for the ages.

Both teams entered the game with 6-3 records and would be fighting for the final playoff spot.

Colby Porter Jr. played for Charles Town for three years before transferring to Martinsburg just before the start of this season.

Charles Town had posted a number of comments about Porter Jr. and Martinsburg in general on social media throughout the season.

I spoke with Colby Porter Jr. on Wednesday and he did his best to convince me that this was a big game only because of the playoff implications and that he wasn't looking to settle any vendetta.

His play on the field said otherwise. Porter Jr., who Charles Town players had been calling a runningback and criticizing his abilities as a passer, threw for 243 yards and three touchdowns, both season highs, and also ran for 51 yards and a score in a 28-0 drubbing of Charles Town.

Charles Town, who switched to a more "pro style" offense under their new coaching staff, managed just 73 yards of offense and completed just 4 of 23 pass attempts.

"We weren't trying to prove anything other than we are the better team." Porter Jr. replied when asked if the passing touchdowns were his way of proving Charles Town wrong.

Martinsburg will head to the playoffs while Charles Town heads home for the offseason.

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Charles Town Stats: 10/18 243Yds 3TD, 7 Rush 51 Rush Yds 1TD

Season Stats(6 Games): 41/62 824Yds 11TD 3Int, 63 Rush 638 Rush Yds 5TD

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MetroNews HS Sports
@MetroNewsPrep

Martinsburg blanks Logan in the first round playoff game 28-0, will face a tough Nitro team next week.


Porter Jr. runs for a touchdown in a playoff win over Logan


Porter Jr. celebrates a touchdown pass to Howell in the 2nd quarter

Game Stats: 8/12 145Yds 2TD 1Int, 12 Rush 89 Rush Yds 1TD

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Nitro knocks out Porter Jr., Martinsburg
By James Davis


Colby Porter Jr. delivers one of his four touchdown passes

Colby Porter Jr. threw for a career high four touchdowns against Nitro despite missing most of the third quarter and part of the fourth after getting shaken up while trying to make a tackle after an interception.

Porter Jr. threw three touchdown passes in the first half and had Martinsburg up 21-10 at the break. On Martinsburg's first possession after halftime Porter Jr. threw an out to Geo Sarria but it bounced high off his fingertips and was intercepted. Porter Jr. tried to chase down the Nitro defender but was blindsided by a defensive end and had to be helped off the field. Nitro was flagged for the hit, negating the touchdown, but their offense scored three plays later to make it 21-17.

Freshman backup quarterback Francisco Delacruz struggled in relief with his three possessions ending in a lost fumble, a punt and a pick six.

With just under four minutes left in the game Porter Jr. led the Martinsburg offense back out trailing 21-31.

After a long run by Alex Howell and a run on an option keep Porter Jr. delivered a beautiful pass to Ostrander in the back of the endzone for a 13 yard touchdown with 2:07 left in the game and two timeouts left.

Nitro was able to lean on their strong offensive line and pick up first downs on back to back plays, leaving Martinsburg with no timeouts and 1:40 left on the clock.

Nitro ran twice for eight yards, bringing up a third and two with :37 left, making the upcoming play a game decider.

Nitro once again leaned on their big boys up front and fullback Tylor Davids plowed ahead for a gain of two yards and one inch, effectively ending the game and Martinburg's season.

Porter Jr. completed 10 of 11 pass attempts for 146 yards and a career high four touchdowns, along with the interception. He ran 11 times for 102 yards.

Alex Howell ran the ball 15 times for 78 yards and caught 4 passes for 60 yards and two touchdowns. Ostrander led the team with 63 yards on 4 receptions and also had a touchdown. Tight end Michael Weisbecker caught two passes for 23 yards and a score.

After the game Martinsburg revealed that Porter Jr. was being evaluated for a concussion and eventually was cleared shortly after Delacruz's third possession began.

“It's hard to come so close and not get the win.” Porter Jr. told me after the loss. “I'm super proud of these guys and so stoked that I got the chance to play and grow with them and it was awesome playing for a coaching staff that believed in me and trusted me.”

I spoke to Colby about his plans for next season.

“Honestly I'm not on a lot of school's radars or anything. I haven't put a lot of thought into it so I'd say at this point things are pretty wide open.”

Porter Jr. does not have any division one offers at this time.

“It's crazy.” Martinsburg head coach Gerald Santangelo told me Sunday morning. “He's got a great skill set and he's so coachable and he's such a team player. If he was six foot Nick Saban would be knocking his door down.”


Colby Porter Jr. celebrates a fourth quarter touchdown pass

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Martinburg's Colby Porter Jr. headed to Blinn
By James Davis


Colby Porter Jr. rushes for a touchdown in his first game at Martinsburg

Colby Porter Jr. played just eight games at Martinsburg after a late transfer made him ineligible to start the season. Porter transferred to Martinsburg amid suspicion that he did so because the new Charles Town coaching staff was changing the offensive scheme and asked him to change positions. Porter and his parents insisted it was an academic move and due to Martinsburg's superiority in that area the move was allowed after a review.

Porter Jr. took over when the team was 1-3 and led them to six straigh regular season wins including knocking off previously undefeated Jefferson in week nine and Charles Town in week ten to earn a playoff spot. He then led them to a round one win over Logan before losing to Nitro in the second round in a game in which he missed significant time while being evaluated for a possible concussion.

Porter Jr. threw for 1,115 yards and 17 touchdowns in eight games while only throwing five interceptions and completing nearly 70 percent of his passes. He also ran for 829 yards and six touchdowns. Division one schools overlooked him and seemingly only focused on the fact that Porter is left handed and stands just five foot nine.

Last Tuesday Porter announced via Twitter that he would be enrolling at Blinn Community College in Texas. NFL stars Cam Newton and Dede Westbrook played at Blinn before moving on to Auburn and Oklahoma. Porter is hoping to take a similar path.

“I had some division two offers and some division three.” Colby told me when we talked yesterday. “I thought pretty hard about some of those but I just kept coming back to Blinn. They've got a great coaching staff, the academics are excellent, that's a big priority for me and my parents. They've helped a lot of guys polish their skills and get to the next level. Not just get to the next level but excel.”

Porter actually did get some division one offers but they were from schools that wanted him to play a different position. Porter didn't consider them to be actual offers.

“I see myself as a quarterback and I intend to play quarterback for as long as possible. I want to do this my way.”

Porter joins a duo of freshmen quarterbacks at Blinn and the three of them will battle for starting job according to Porter.

Due to Porter's academic success in high school he will be eligible to transfer to any four year school he desires after a year at Blinn, assuming he keeps his grade up over that year. Student athletes that go to junior colleges to improve their academic situation must stay enrolled for two years before they can transfer.


Colby Porter Jr. throws a touchdown pass in what would be his last game at Martinsburg

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2015 BLINN FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
May 1, 2015

8/22/15 @ ASA College (Miami)
8/29/15 vs Texas A&T
9/5/15 @ Kilgore College *
9/12/15 @ Cisco College *
9/19/15 @ at Tyler Junior College *
9/26/15 vs New Mexico Military Institute *
10/3/15 vs Trinity Valley Community College *
10/10/15 vs Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College *
10/17/15 vs Navarro College *
* = SWJCFC Game

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BLINN FOOTBALL DROPS TO 0-2 WITH LOSS AGAINST TEXAS A&T
August 30, 2015

Despite a strong effort by their defense the Bucs once again came up short in a 14-8 loss against Texas A&T. The defense held Texas A&T in check for most of the game, giving up just one touchdown late in the second quarter.

Blinn quarterback Bryan Martin threw a pick six shortly after halftime to give Texas A&T a 14-0 lead. Runningback Alonzo Taylor scored on a 73 yard run in the fourth quarter then added the conversion to make it 14-8 which would be the final score.

Martin threw a trio of interceptions to bring his season total up to five.

“There's a definite imbalance right now.” Coach Keith Thomas commented when asked about the great play of his defense and struggles of his offense. “But ultimately this is a team sport and sometimes one group or another has to pick up the slack to get the results we're after.”

Blinn dropped their season opener at ASA College in Miami two weeks ago by a score of 28-17.

The offense has leaned heavily on runningback Alonzo Taylor, a sophomore from California who led the SWJCFC in rushing yardage and touchdowns last season and is looking to do so again this year. Taylor has 276 yards and a pair of scores thus far despite defenses loading up against the run.

Blinn will play at Kilgore College next week in their first SWJCFC game of the season.